Chance Encounters
by JuniperGentle
Summary: A bad day leaves Yuu in a very bad mood, and being sent on a fruitless errand just made it even worse, or so he thought. Includes gnomes, theme parks, mysterious phone calls and still no milk.
1. In The Darkness

**Chance Encounters**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 – In The Darkness<strong>

He wasn't certain why he'd decided to take the long route home from the shop. Maybe it was the clear, cool night sky that had the stars out in their thousands. Even the street lamps couldn't overpower all of them.

Or maybe he just wanted to stay out of the house as long as possible.

Yuu kicked at a pebble. It wasn't fair. If he'd been just a little bit bigger, he could have gone with Gingka and the others to the theme park that day, but no. He and Kenta were just a couple of centimetres below the height barrier, so they would have only been able to go on the kiddie rides that were about as scary as Osamu. So the two of them had been left at home.

Of course, Tsubasa had teased him mercilessly about it, putting particular emphasis on "_little_ boy"; Tsubasa, the tallest of the group by a good inch and a half since he hit another growth-spurt just after the end of Battle Bladers.

Huh.

He kicked the pebble again. It wasn't as if he wasn't _brave_ enough to go on the big rides, even the brand new Crystal Mountain ride. Madoka had apparently refused to go on it at all, and Benkei had turned green at the idea of going on it again. Yuu was certain that if he'd been allowed to go, he'd have gone on at _least_ ten times. Maybe more! And Kenshi would have too.

"Too short," Yuu muttered to himself, giving the stone a particularly savage kick. "I wasn't too short to battle in Battle Bladers, so why am I too short to go on some stupid ride? This is so stinky."

There was a loud _clunk_ and Yuu looked up. His stone had flown further than he had thought. It had gone over the fence, into the garden of the house he was outside and had...

Oh no. It had taken the head off the ceramic gnome that had been fishing in the pond. And the curtains in the front window of the house the gnome belonged to were twitching slightly.

Yuu took off at a flat-out sprint, not caring which turnings he took as long as they were _away_ from the decapitated gnome and its surely-furious owner. Five minutes later, he skidded to a halt in what he thought was the road next to B-Pit. But when he turned the corner, he instead came face to face with a row of small shops he had never seen before. Frowning, he backtracked a bit, and it was about then that he realised he'd forgotten which turning he'd first come out of.

He was totally lost.

But that was okay, because he had Libra with him. Libra could... well, he wasn't quite sure what Libra could do, but at least he felt a bit better having the sharp-tipped bey in his pocket. Yuu squared his shoulders and drew himself up to his full height of four feet. Okay, three foot eleven inches. But it was nearly four, and that was what counted, unless you wanted to go to the theme park.

Most of the shops on the road were already closed; it was nearly eight o'clock. The only one that still had a light in the window was a takeaway shop and a tiny laundrette. Figuring that the laundrette would be less likely to have lots of strangers in it, Yuu headed there, determined to get himself out of the mess he was in without too many people noticing.

The bell over the door chimed wearily as Yuu pushed it open, looking around to see if he could see the owner or at least an assistant. There was no-one behind the till, though, and Yuu suddenly realised that only the light closest to the door was actually on. The rest of them were off, leaving most of the room cloaked in thick shadow.

"Hello?" he called cautiously, ready to swallow his pride and head over to the takeaway shop if he had to. But then something – or rather, some_one_ – in the shadows moved.

The figure was very tall, much taller than Yuu, and appeared to be leaning against the only running washing machine. From what the faint light showed, it was wearing dark trousers and a long black coat that came almost to its knees, and had its hands shoved deep into the pockets. Its shoulders were hunched forward into the turned-up collar, as if the person wearing the heavy coat was still cold, even though the laundrette was anything but.

Yuu took a step forwards. "Umm, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but..." He trailed off as the figure straightened very suddenly, turning to look at him properly. White teeth flashed a lop-sided grin in the dim light.

"Yuu." said the figure quietly, and Yuu froze.

He knew that voice.


	2. Renewal

_A/N - Sorry this took so long to arrive, guys - I ended up putting this chapter through at least three rewrites before I was happy with the way the characters behaved.**  
><strong>_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 - Renewal<strong>

"Yuu."

His voice was much, much deeper than Yuu remembered, so much so that for a second he wondered if it really was him. The black coat certainly didn't look right, and if it really was him, then the stance was totally wrong. But then the figure moved slightly, and the light flashed on the golden coronet.

Yuu swallowed, suddenly out of his depth. "Um... hey, Ryuga..."

"What're you doing here? Aren't you meant to be with Gingka?" His speech was very slow and measured, as if he was having to think about every word. It didn't sound at all like the Ryuga Yuu remembered.

"Um... I kind of got lost... I just came in here to ask for directions." Ryuga didn't move. Only his eyes glittered in the light from near the door. "Um, Ryuga... what are _you_ doing here? This place looks like it should be closed."

A shrug so slow that in the shadows it was almost indistinguishable. "What does it look like I'm doing? Robbing the place?" A soft snort. "I'm doing the laundry, of course. The owner's a family friend, so he lets me in after hours. Must have forgotten to lock the door." Ryuga's voice was almost husky in its depths, and Yuu finally realised what had happened. In the month since Battle Bladers, Ryuga's voice had broken. There was no time to find this amusing, though, as at that moment the washing machine clicked and Ryuga knelt to open the door and pull the damp clothes out of the drum. Yuu heard him make an odd sound like a cross between a laugh and a cough, and took a step closer.

"I do not want to know how _that_ ended up in my washing," Ryuga muttered to himself. Yuu craned his neck to peer over the older teen's shoulder, but Ryuga was taller even than Tsubasa, and it was impossible to see what he was holding. "If it's him again, I'll string him from the banisters by his hair."

"Who's him?" Yuu's natural curiosity got the better of him, but it probably would have been better if he had noticed just how close he was to the Dragon before saying anything. Ryuga swung around so fast that Yuu jumped and stumbled backwards when the Dragon's fierce, golden eyes glared straight back into his own. Unlike everything else about him, it seemed that both his eyes and his reflexes were as sharp as ever.

"Sorry," Yuu backed off, suddenly frightened. "I didn't mean..."

"How did you get lost?"

The sudden change of subject surprised the younger blader. "Um, I wasn't allowed on the Crystal Mountain so I got mad and kicked a stone which took a gnome-man's head off and I thought the owner was going to chase me so I ran away and took a wrong turning and ended up in here."

For all of three seconds, Ryuga stared at him. Then, very, very slowly, he blinked. "Right."

"But it's true!" Yuu protested. Ryuga shook his head, almost smiling in that strange way he had.

"You're a very strange little boy, you know."

"I'm not a little boy!"

One eyebrow went up just as languidly as almost every other movement that Ryuga had made so far. Wincing inwardly, Yuu realised that Ryuga was still taller than him when the Dragon was kneeling down.

"Why were you out in the first place?"

"I was..." Yuu frowned. "I was meant to be getting some milk."

"Won't your friends be worried about you?" That didn't quite sound right coming out of Ryuga's mouth.

"Huh. They weren't worried 'bout me when they left me at home all day whilst they went to the theme park." Yuu folded his arms into his wide sleeves.

"Really? I thought that was something that Gingka liked doing – get worried about people he calls friends. I can't really see the point of it."

Now _that_ sounded more like the old Ryuga.

"Me and Kenshi were too small to go on the rides, so they told us to stay at home," Yuu explained. "So we tried making milkshake, but it didn't work, so I was meant to get some more milk to make up for the stuff we got everywhere." He sighed. "But the shop didn't have any left."

Ryuga shrugged. "Your loss." He shut the door of the empty washing machine.

Yuu had a sudden idea. If Ryuga lived near here, he must know the way back to some kind of landmark that Yuu could recognise. Maybe if he just asked Ryuga to help him make his way back...

But just as he was beginning to think that this might be his lucky break on what had been one of the worst days of his life, his mind jerked back just over a month to the week of the finals of Battle Bladers - and his fight with Reiji. The day that really _had_ been the worst of his life.

He'd almost forgotten it, actually. Kenta and Hyoma had difficulty remembering their battles against the strange red-head too, and Tsubasa and Kyouya were pretty hazy on the battles with Ryuga himself. Ryo had gently explained that the extreme stress on their bodies had forced their minds to shut down so that they were protected from their own memories as a defence mechanism. To be honest, Yuu didn't care. He didn't _want_ to think about the moment when he'd realised his bey was almost irreparably broken by the one who had just usurped his place as Dark Nebula's second-ranked blader.

But there was one moment he shouldn't have forgotten, and that he hadn't even realised that he had until right now. The moment when the snake had reared high over him, terrible fangs glittering like white needles, and Yuu had begged Reiji to just _stop it_. That it was _enough_, that it wasn't _right_, for someone to _please, please, help me!_

He had sensed the presence behind him and had turned, taking his attention away from the battle in the hope that maybe his saviour could have come, avenging angel with the wings of the Dragon. But instead of a helping hand, he was given a cold, haughty look of remote disappointment, and the flare of the white coat as Ryuga turned his back on the one who had called him _friend._

Ryuga's coat was black now, but that didn't mean he was any less likely to turn his back on Yuu again. Yuu had learned that lesson the hard way. He could remember it as clear as if it was being played out in front of him.

"_Stop! Stop it, L-Drago! I am the one who controls you! Don't try to take me in... Don't try to control me...!"_

"I'm... I'm going to go now..." Yuu stammered, turning and heading for the door. He actually had his hand on the door handle when Ryuga's soft voice stopped him.

"You don't know which way to go, Yuu."

Reminding himself of the pain when Ryuga had turned his back on his self-appointed friend, Yuu screwed up his courage and turned. "I'll just go and ask in the shop over there."

"No, you won't." There was something almost dangerous in the voice now, and Yuu shivered.

"I have to get home, Ryuga..."

"I know." Ryuga stood, the washing carrier in one hand. "I'll take this back to my house, then _I'll_ show you how to get back to your side of town."

"Er..." Yuu couldn't help noticing that Ryuga had refused to meet his eyes, and swallowed. There had to be a catch somewhere. "No, it's... it's okay. I can just..."

Ryuga's eyes finally came round to meet his. "What? You don't trust me?"

The silence that fell was terrible. In all his life, Yuu had never known anything so deadly. Green eyes, frozen with a mixture of fear and dread, stared into blank golden ones, neither moving, not even blinking. The stillness stretched on for what felt like hours before Yuu caught the slightest widening of Ryuga's eyes as the Dragon realised.

"Oh. I see."

And he broke eye-contact. But that was his only movement, meaning that though Yuu still had a clear path to the door, leaving didn't feel like the right thing to do. It was a perfect stalemate.

For a long time, the two erstwhile Dark Nebula bladers stayed perfectly still, neither quite looking at the other. The tension was so thick that Yuu was fairly certain that a knife wouldn't even manage to cut it, and privately wondered if laundrettes stocked chainsaws. He fingered the bey in his pocket, running his fingers over the repaired edges and the Eternal Sharp performance tip that he had only just got back from Kenta. Libra had almost been destroyed because the teen in front of him had refused to do something as simple as launch his own bey to knock Reiji's back, or even to order his second-in-command to stand down and let Yuu forfeit the match. Yes, Yuu would then have been kept in the Dark Nebula, and in time it was quite likely that he would have ended up as food for L-Drago, all things considered, but anything was preferable to losing his beloved bey.

"Why didn't you stop him?" The words burst out of him without him quite meaning to say them.

Ryuga looked startled. "Who?"

"Reiji. Why didn't you stop him from destroying Libra? It would have been so easy for you, and you just stood there and let him get away with it!"

"It wasn't my place to interfere in your battle." His voice was distant and cold, and he still wouldn't meet Yuu's eyes. "Besides, it would have invalidated your deal with Doji."

"So you _wanted_ Reiji to destroy me?"

"No!" Ryuga's eyes blazed as he suddenly swung them to meet Yuu's. Then he softened his voice a little. "No blade should ever get destroyed like that."

"Now look who's talking." Yuu snapped. He had no idea why he was so cross... well, alright, he _did,_ but Ryuga was the very last person that he ever expected to be shouting at. "Look at what you did to Kyouya and Tsubasa and Hikaru and all the others. Oh, but of course, that was all L-Drago's fault, so you can just blame him instead and not take the blame!"

Ice flooded Ryuga's voice. "Do not speak of things that you cannot and will never understand."

A chill ran down Yuu's spine. He'd gone too far this time, and it would serve him right if he ended up with his bey broken at his feet, crushed under the black boots of the young, angry man in front of him. But Ryuga's only movement was to brush past Yuu, pull open the door and order him outside with a jerk of the head. For a long moment, Yuu remained right where he was, frozen.

"I'm locking the door in ten seconds," Ryuga pointed out, with just the slightest edge of irritability creeping into the still-icy voice. "You can be on the inside or the outside when that happens."

Keeping his eyes down, Yuu inched past the much taller blader onto the street. Biting his lip, he stayed where he was as Ryuga closed and locked the door, keeping his hands clenched at his sides.

There was slight amusement in Ryuga's eyes when he realised that the small blonde-haired blader was still standing there, but he ignored Yuu and turned to walk away down the street.

"I'm not going to ask you to forgive me," he said quietly, without stopping walking. "It won't make me any stronger, I don't want it, and even if I did, I probably don't deserve it by your standards. I'm not asking you to forgive, I'm not asking you to forget, and I'm not even asking you to understand. There's some things I don't _want_ you to understand." This last was said very quietly indeed.

"Like what?" If he had been anyone else, Ryuga could have easily have been accused of jumping in surprise at the words. Yuu was right next to him, green eyes challenging. "I'm not a little boy."

"Why did you follow me?"

That was a slightly unexpected question. "What do you mean?"

"I all but told you to go home your own way. We both know you don't trust me, and with good reason, so why are you still here?"

Yuu took a deep breath. "I don't know." he said at last. "But... I still think you're my friend. You and L-Drago did some pretty bad things, but you won't do them any more, right? You're sorry for what you did?"

A casual shrug was the closest he was going to get to an answer. "Why should you think I'd be your friend?"

"Because you're a blader."

Ryuga made no answer, but he stopped walking. Yuu went round until he was in front of the Dragon and able to look up into the intelligent, gold-eyed face high above him. "Ryuga?"

"Because I'm a blader..." His voice was still slow and careful, but now had an almost dreamy quality to it that didn't sound like Ryuga at all.

"Yeah. We've battled, and our spirits are bound together. That's what Gingka always says." Yuu insisted. "So? Are you my friend or not?"

There was something that might have been the tiniest flicker of a smile at the corner of Ryuga's mouth. "I don't think you'll find I'm very good at it. Friendship tends to require being nice, and that's not one of my strong points."

Yuu shrugged. "So? Tsubasa says I'm noisy and hyper and eat too much ice-cream, but he's still my friend. And he's all gloomy and serious all the time, and I'm still _his_ friend." He frowned. "Unless he's calling me little boy."

A true grin cracked Ryuga's mask. "You _are_ little."

"Shut up."

Ryuga looked away, as if he'd suddenly realised that he'd been caught actually smiling for once, instead of his characteristic evil smirk. "Doesn't friendship also require trust?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"That's a bit of a problem, then, wouldn't you say? You said yourself you don't trust me." Ryuga's grin was now a grimace. "_I_ wouldn't trust me, not after what L-Drago did."

Yuu had to agree that the older blader had a point. He stared at the paving slabs under his feet and hopped over one of the cracks. To his amusement, Ryuga appeared to be doing the same thing.

"What's L-Drago like?" Yuu asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

Yuu shrugged uncomfortably. "Does he ever talk to you? Libra talks to me sometimes in battle and tells me what I should do. He's very good at it. And Pegasus talks to Gingka."

Ryuga's eyes went distant. "Yes, he talks," he said at last. "I just wish he wouldn't. It makes keeping him under control a lot more difficult."

"Under control?"

Ryuga shifted the laundry bag to the other hand. "In battle. If he talks, I have to pay attention to him and not the battle or..." He swallowed with apparent effort. "You know what happened better than I do. I can't really remember much after defeating that blue-haired girl. He was pretty much in control from then on."

Yuu frowned. "That's stinky. He's a mean constellation. I'll get Libra to teach him a lesson." He was talking automatically, not realising what he was saying until Ryuga suddenly laughed. It only lasted a second, but it was a proper laugh.

"Don't try," he said, serious again. "Don't trust me, and don't try to take on L-Drago. He'll hurt you. Leave him to me."

"I'm not scared of him," Yuu boasted, then coloured. "I'm just a bit scared of what he does to people."

"Like Kyouya and Tsubasa?"

"Like you."

Ryuga didn't say anything for a very long time after that, apparently lost in thought. It wasn't until they stopped outside the red door of a terraced town-house that he spoke again.

"We're here," was all he said. "Welcome to my home."

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><p><em>AN – Ryuga's voice can break if it wants. It's my way of explaining why his voice is stupidly high at the start of Metal Fusion, but seems to have settled into something rather lower by the time he makes his grand entrance in Masters. Thinking about it, it was probably brought on by L-Drago ripping his whole body apart and then forcing a double or even triple voice through one voice-box. That'd change it a bit._

_And is Ryuga is acting very weird in this chapter? Then again, I guess that it's because he's working very, very hard on keeping L-Drago down, the stormy current under the still surface, that sort of thing. _

_What do you think?_


	3. The Forgotten Bladers

_A/N – Cameo appearances by several people from the original Beyblade series. If you don't know that series, imagine that they're just extra characters thrown in for the sake of it._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3 – The Forgotten Bladers<strong>

"So this is where you've been since Battle Bladers," Yuu exclaimed. "Cool."

Ryuga rolled his eyes and opened the door. A wave of warmth rolled out of the house, along with the smell of burning sausages and some _very_ loud rock music.

"Reiji! Turn it off!" Ryuga bellowed up the stairs, and someone – presumably Reiji – shouted something extremely rude back. The music was turned down a little bit.

"I meant the sausages," Ryuga sighed, and took such a sudden turn through the door on his left that Yuu nearly didn't see him move. He followed the taller teen into a small kitchen, full of silvery smoke and the loud crackling of burnt fat. A boy with purple hair and a notably large nose was perched on a chair, all sorts of bits and pieces spread out in front of him on the table, which also now held the laundry basket. They looked like parts of a rifle. He looked up as Yuu entered and waved a screwdriver.

"Hey," he said, before going back to what he was doing. "Welcome to 461 Koma Place."

"Is that where we are?"

"Yes." Ryuga emerged very suddenly from the smoke right next to Yuu, who jumped. Quite how the Dragon had managed to disappear in the thin smoke when he was wearing black Yuu decided he would never know. Rather incongruously, Ryuga also had a pair of oven gloves draped over one shoulder.

"Yuu, this is Ian," he said. "He's a blade mechanic from Russia. Used to be on the old Russian blading team, but they..." He suddenly stopped and shrugged. "Well, you know how it is."

Yuu didn't know, but there was no way he was going to let Ryuga know that. Instead, he poked one of the pieces on metal on the table that looked suspiciously like the holder from a beyblade launcher.

"Yeah, this is my launcher," Ian said without looking up. "It's illegal, of course, but who cares."

"Cool..." Yuu picked up a surprisingly heavy metal disk. "What's this do?"

"Knocks out inquisitive little boys," Ian replied, grabbing a blow-torch. "Hey, Ryuga, light this for me?"

Ryuga gave him the sort of look that would have made Yuu want to curl up into a little ball and never move again. Ian, however, maintained a stony expression of impatience until the Dragon threw a box of matches at his head. There was a long silence, the only sounds being the roar of the blow-torch and the whistle of the kettle.

"Steve's in," Ian shut off the blow-torch and looked up. "Sora's at the shop. Apparently you ate the apples he was saving for a pie."

"Hmph." Ryuga turned back to the oven. Yuu heard him mutter something about Reiji wasting perfectly good sausages as he opened the oven door to let another wave of smoke out.

"So it's not just you and Ryuga and Reiji here?" Yuu asked, shielding his eyes from the grey clouds. In the distance, the front door opened.

"No, there's quite a few of us, actually," Ian said, snapping a trigger-shaped piece of metal into place, apparently oblivious to the smoke. "We've all drifted in over the years, just gathering together because otherwise it's impossible to pay the rent. Even now, I'm the only one with a full-time job."

"I told you, I'm not staying long," Ryuga growled, dumping a tray of now-black sausages on top of the oven with a bang. "As soon as I've fixed L-Drago, I'm leaving. I need to get back into training."

Ian ignored him. "Ryuga was the last to arrive, so there's now... let's see... there's me, Reiji, Sora and Steve in the main house, Ryuga's in the attic, and there's the four in the basement. That's nine." He frowned suddenly. "I hadn't realised just how many of us there are before."

"So?" Ryuga shrugged, then grinned suddenly, the old grin that was far too evil for Yuu's liking. "Maybe I should introduce Yuu to the basement group?"

"Don't be so mean, Ryuga!" said a new voice from the door. "It's not fair to do that to him without telling him what they are first."

A young teenager stood in the doorway, brown hair streaked with golden yellow at the front, three bulging shopping bags in his hands. His eyes were deep, ruby red, such a strange colour that Yuu automatically shrank away. "Hi," he said, coming in and dumping the bags on the floor. "I'm Sora. Who are you?"

"I'm Yuu."

"No, _I'm_ me," Sora frowned. "Who are _you_?"

"That's what I said - I'm Yuu!"

"Sora, stop being dense," Ryuga snapped. "His name is Yuu. Yuu Tendo."

"Huh, sorry." Sora didn't sound sorry at all. "Not my fault he's got a silly name."

Yuu could have sworn that he heard Ryuga hiss, though it was probably the kettle. Sora sauntered through the now-smokeless kitchen and switched it off.

"Don't even think about trying to make tea!" Ian and Ryuga chorused, and Sora rolled his eyes.

"You say that _every single time, _guys."

"We have to." Ian's face and voice were completely serious. "Yuu, if anyone in this house apart from Ryuga offers you tea, _do not accept it,_ and if Sora's given it to you, call the bomb disposal squad."

"Hey!" Sora objected. "It wasn't that bad."

"You used four tea bags in one mug, and then put so much sugar in it that it went solid after half an hour," Ian replied. "Yes, it _was_ that bad."

Sora rolled his red eyes and grabbed the coffee jar from the side. "Fine, I'll make coffee instead. Anyone want some?" The other two shuddered and shook their heads.

Yuu turned to Ian. "So why are you guys all here? Are you all bladers?"

"Yeah," said Ian through a mouthful of screws. "But we're the ones who... well, I guess we didn't make the cut." Yuu's eyes flicked automatically to Ryuga, and Ian grinned when he noticed. "We're just here until we're remembered," he said. "I've been here nearly... what? Nearly three years now?"

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "Ian, Steve and the four in the basement have been here longest. They all arrived about the same time, three years or so ago. I got here about three months ago and Ryuga and Reiji turned up about a month and a half ago. Dunno if our teams will ever take us back now that we're the forgotten bladers."

"The forgotten bladers?" whispered Yuu. "That sounds... kinda creepy."

Ryuga shrugged. "Sora's being dramatic, as usual. It just means that they weren't performing any role in their team, so they got taken off. Though in Steve's case I think they actually replaced him. He's a bit bitter about it."

"There's a small chance that someone will remember us one day, which means we might get back on our teams," Sora added "but after about three months you're pretty much lost forever. Ryuga keeps _saying_ that he's going to get out on his own, but I keep telling him that it doesn't work like that. Someone has to remember us before we can get out." At Yuu's frown, he shrugged. "I know, I don't get it either."

"There's another whole household of forgotten bladers at 544," Ian said. "Strange bunch... led by a robot boy, if what I heard was correct. There's loads of them – at least twelve. Good job it's a bigger house than this one."

"I heard they're actually four different teams, whole teams" Sora put the kettle back on its stand. "They all moved in at about the same time."

"They all seem to have this fixation on bit-beasts, whatever they are," Ryuga added. "And when Sora went round to say hi, they threw him out because his constellation was called Cyber Pegasus. They shouted something along the lines of "we won't have any cyber bit-beasts here" and ever since then they haven't talked to any of us."

"What's a bit-beast?" Yuu asked.

"Ian says they're like our constellations," Ryuga told him. "But from what I've seen of his and Steve's they're not that good."

"Are too!" Ian exclaimed, but his mouth was full of screws so it came out more like "Mmr oo!"

"Huh. A snake and a bull. Reiji's snake is far more scary than yours, and the last time I battled a bull-beast I beat it in three seconds flat."

"Just because you're scared of your own beast doesn't make it better than ours." Ian pulled the last screw out of his mouth and used it to attach a small metal plate to the side of his gun-shaped launcher, totally ignoring Ryuga's snarl. Yuu decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and sat there in silence watching the tension rise until Sora plunked a mug of something black and strong-smelling in front of him.

"Umm..." Yuu began, but luckily for him a hand appeared out of nowhere and snatched up the mug.

"You make good coffee, Sora," said a voice from way over Yuu's head, and he looked up to see a tall, broad-shouldered young man with hair as green as Kyouya's. He drained the mug in one gulp and slammed it down on the table in front of Yuu again.

"How can you even _drink_ that stuff, Steve?" Ian asked, breaking away from the glaring match he was having with Ryuga and shuddering theatrically. "It's like he makes it with battery acid or something."

Steve shrugged. "Suits me. Hey – do I know you?" He had finally noticed Yuu.

"No you don't know him, he came here with Ryuga, his name is Yuu and he isn't staying," Ian rattled off very quickly. Steve just blinked, shrugged and left the kitchen as suddenly as he had appeared.

"_Americans,"_ Ryuga muttered. Sora threw the coffee jar at his head, which Ryuga caught without even looking at it. "Do that again and I'll lock you in the basement."

"Be nice," Ian sighed.

"I'm not nice."

"Doesn't mean you should lock him in the basement with a vampire."

Yuu's eyes widened. "A _vampire?" _he asked breathlessly.

"Name of Sanguinex. There's a werewolf too, you know," Sora grinned. "And a mummy and a sort of Frankenstein zombie man."

Ryuga's smile was suddenly feral. "Do you want to meet them?"

Yuu nodded rather too enthusiastically, then stopped, remembering something. "I should probably call to let the others know where I am..."

"Phone's in the hall," Ian told him, screwing the barrel of his rifle launcher into the main section.

"Hit it," Ryuga said cryptically, and just raised an eyebrow when Yuu gave him a quizzical look. Puzzled, Yuu went out into the hall, finally spotting the phone high up on the wall to his left, so high that there was no way to reach it...

_Hit it._

Could Ryuga have been attempting to be subtle about how stupidly high the phone handset was? Swallowing his pride, Yuu hit the wall below the phone as hard as he could. To his delight and surprise, the receiver dropped straight down into his hand. It was even one of the ones which had the numbers on the inside of the phone, instead of on the cradle like usual.

"Thanks, Ryuga!"

"Huh."

The phone at the other end rang several times before someone picked it up.

"Hagane residence, Gingka speaking."

Oh boy, this was not going to be good. "Um.. hi, Gingka... It's... um, it's Yuu."

"Yuu? It that really you? Where are you?"

Another voice from beyond Gingka sounded a lot like Ryo Hagane. "Gingka? Is it him?"

"Yeah, it's him alright... hang on, Yuu, Dad wants to talk to you..."

The usual sounds of the phone being handed over were punctuated by Ryo's voice again. "Yuu? Where are you? Have you any idea how worried we've been?"

"I know, I'm sorry! I went out for the milk, but I got lost and ended up in Ry... in Sora's house." He had so nearly said _Ryuga,_ and that was an instant death-wish when talking to Gingka's dad.

"Got lost? But you were just going round the corner to the shop!"

"I know, I know... I took the long route home and I broke someone's gnome so I ran away and took a wrong turning and... well, I ended up at Sora's house."

He heard Ryo sigh. "Only you could manage to get into trouble just going to the corner shop, Yuu. You're worse than Gingka sometimes." A muffled "Hey!" was heard in the background. "We sent Kyouya, Benkei and Tsubasa out to look for you nearly half an hour ago. We've been worried sick! Kenta and Madoka insisted that if there was no news by eight, we call the police."

Yuu leaned around the kitchen door to squint at the clock on the microwave. 7.57. Not good. "I'm... I'm really sorry..."

Ryo gave another heavy sigh. "Alright. Where are you at the moment?"

"Like I said – I'm in Sora's house. 461 Koma Place."

"Sora lives there? I thought he was too young to rent a house – he used to live in WBBA properties until he disappeared about three months ago. Haven't heard anything about him since, actually."

"It's... um, it's not his house. There's some other bladers here too, from all over the place. There's someone called Steve from America, and a nice Russian guy called Ian and..." Yuu heard a snort from the kitchen that couldn't possibly have been Ryuga.

"And?"

"And a couple of others," Yuu said far too quickly. He almost heard Ryo frown.

"Others like who?"

Now Yuu had a problem. It would be very bad to lie, even in such a situation as this. He could either tell Ryo Hagane that Reiji and Ryuga were in the house, or that there was a vampire and a werewolf in the basement. The first one might actually sound believable on the phone... maybe if he said it in as flippant a way as possible, he might get away with it?

"Yuu? Are you still there?"

"Um, yeah..."

"You didn't tell me who else is in the house. It can't be Sora's parents, because I know where they live."

"Promise you won't go crazy?" Yuu begged, though part of him pointed out that this was as good as an invitation to go crazy as anything.

"Why?" Ryo's voice was now very suspicious.

"Um... you won't really like the last ones."

"Why?"

"They're... well... apparently there's a vampire and a werewolf in the basement."

A long, long silence. "Yuu, have you had anything to eat or drink at their house?" Ryo asked slowly.

"No, why?"

"Are you sure that none of them have drugged you?"

"Of course I'm sure! Ryuga would never let..." Yuu froze. Of all the things that could have come out of his mouth it _had _to be that. The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening.

"Ryuga?" Ryo sounded far too calm. "He's there?"

"Yeah, but it's fine, he was the one who rescued me and brought me here, he's been really nice – well, Ryuga's version of nice, anyway..."

But the damage was done. "461 Koma Place. I'll be there in five minutes."

And the phone at the other end slammed down.

"Not happy, hmm?" Yuu jumped out of his skin. Ryuga was lounging against the wall right behind him. He hadn't even noticed that the Dragon had left the kitchen. "Figures, I guess." He plucked the receiver out of Yuu's hand and set it back in its place. "I have no idea why they put it so high up on the wall. Ian has to stand on a kitchen chair to reach it. Come with me. I'll introduce you to the guys in the basement." A grin. "I promise I won't let them eat you."

Yuu looked up. For a long moment, he hesitated. The Ryuga he knew never made promises, unless they were to beat someone. But then again, the Ryuga he knew had never acted as though Yuu was actually more to him than just another source of power for L-Drago. The Ryuga he knew had been controlled by L-Drago.

"Okay!"

Yuu had trusted the old Ryuga, and it had been disastrous.

But, more importantly, Yuu had forgiven _this_ Ryuga.


	4. New Things

_A/N – more cameos here, rather more prevalent. And a very angry Ryo, and a Ryuga who... well, you'll find out._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 – New Things<strong>

The door to the basement was only a couple of steps down the hall, and the handle was curiously dusty, as if it hadn't been used in a very long time. Ryuga knocked twice, paused, then twice more, paused, then one final time. Yuu's sharp ears could just about pick out the sounds of rustling cloth coming up the stairs, though no footsteps.

"Who is it?" The voice had a strange echo to it, as though it was coming from down a valley rather than from behind a door.

"Ryuga."

"I know _that."_ The voice sounded almost exasperated. "I can smell your blood from here, dragon-boy. Who's with you?"

Yuu took an automatic step away from the door. This was beginning to freak him out, even more than the rest of the day so far had.

"His name is Yuu Tendo. He's visiting. I said I'd introduce you."

"We're not tourist attractions," came the disgruntled mutter from behind the door, but it opened nevertheless to reveal a tall, aristocratic man with grey hair marked with a streak of red like a flame. He was dressed from head to foot in a long green and black robe, and had it not been for the fact that his eyes were glowing deep red, he could have been mistaken for someone trying out – badly – for a part in a horror movie. As it was, Yuu would have given him the lead villain role at once.

"That's him?" His red eyes scanned over Yuu like he was a menu.

There was a slight scuffling in the darkness at the bottom of the steps and suddenly another man, this one with steel-blue hair, loomed over the other's shoulder. His eyes had also settled into a deep glow, but this one was blue instead of red, matching his hair. "Hmm. Bit small, isn't he?"

"Wouldn't even make an afternoon snack," said the red-eyed man, sounding terribly disappointed.

"Leave him alone," Ryuga growled, golden eyes flashing in the gloom and one gauntleted arm blocking the men from reaching Yuu. "He'd whip all four of you any day in the bey-dish."

Yuu's mouth fell open in delighted shock. He had never heard Ryuga praise anyone, let alone him, so highly. For a moment, he forgot Ryuga's betrayal, forgot the horrific dragon form in the dim dawn light of the final battle, forgot that Ryuga still might not be in complete control. All he could remember was the moment he'd first met the Dragon, when he'd known that here – _finally – _was an opponent worthy of all his power, and all his respect. The moment when he'd decided that, no matter what, he was going to be Ryuga's friend, his _best_ friend.

"What'd you bring him here for, then?" the blue-haired man asked grumpily. "Sanguinex told you – we're not tourist attractions."

"No," Ryuga agreed. "But you _are_ a vampire and a werewolf living in the basement of a small town house, along with a living mummy and a zombie. I'd expect some sort of curiosity if I were you, and he's not staying long so just put up with it."

"And we were here _years_ before you were, little dragon, so don't think you can boss us around." This new voice seemed to wrap around the air and choke the life out of it. "Especially when you're not exactly all human yourself."

Yuu sidled to the right, putting Ryuga between him and the voice. "Ryuga? Who's that?" He hated how timid he sounded, but the voice was so creepy that he just wanted to get out of there. It was strange, but it was like the voice had a smell – a musty, dusty smell of things ancient beyond count, bound to a timeline with linen wraps.

"That's Cenotaph," Ryuga answered softly. "And yes, he is an Egyptian mummy. But he hardly ever comes out of the cellar, unless there's tea on offer."

That was beyond bizarre. "The mummy drinks tea?" His only answer was a shrug.

But before Yuu could see this mysterious mummy, there was a very loud knock at the door. Instantly, the blue-haired man bounded down the basement steps in a huge, wolf-like leap, whilst the body of the vampire seemed to just crumble away, leaving only the pile of green-black fabric on the top step. Ryuga slammed the basement door shut just as whoever it was outside knocked again, even louder.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Sora came out of the kitchen, scowling. "Give me a second to get there, won't you?"

He pulled the door open with a bang to reveal none other than Ryo Hagane himself in all his incandescent fury.

Yuu winced inwardly, terribly tempted to hide behind Ryuga as Ryo's dark gold eyes scanned the hallway, landing on him almost immediately.

"Yuu." His voice was cold with anger, and Yuu could have sworn that he saw the red flames of the Phoenix surrounding him. "Come with me at once."

Yuu took a tentative step forward, only to realise that Ryo and Ryuga had locked glares, neither pair of brilliant eyes backing down an inch.

"If I ever find you near any of my son's friends again, I will break L-Drago into so many pieces that even Madoka won't be able to fix it." Yuu couldn't believe the depths of the hatred in Ryo's voice. Yeah, sure, Ryuga had done a lot of damage, but after bringing Yuu safely back here and making sure he didn't end up as vampire snacks, and even letting him call home so that Ryo knew where he was, surely the Dragon deserved some thanks?

"You'd be dead before you managed to put a scratch on him, and you know it." But an equal loathing was hidden in Ryuga's voice, such a change from the almost-friendly behaviour from earlier. Yuu shivered. Could he have been wrong all along? It had happened once before, after all...

"Bye, Yuu!" called Ian from the kitchen as Yuu passed the door, once more waving the screwdriver at him. "See you around, kid!"

"Bye," Sora chimed in. "Hope you come back soon. Ryuga's nicer when you're here. Normally he'd have kicked Reiji's door down to get him to apologise for burning the sausages. Seriously, the amount of damage he does to this house, I'll be surprised if we even have enough to pay the rent after what we have to pay for repairs."

"Right..." Yuu wasn't quite sure what else he could say, standing on the doorstep as he was. "Um, bye, I guess." He dared to glance upwards. The two golden-eyed men were still glaring at each other. "Bye, Ryuga. Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome." Ryuga didn't even blink, unlike Ryo, who then tore his eyes from the Dragon to grab Yuu by the wrist.

"Have you any idea how worried we were about you?" he snapped as he propelled Yuu towards the old red car that was idling next to the curb. "Ryuga is very, _very _dangerous! You could have been very badly hurt! I know he's not controlled by L-Drago any more, but that doesn't mean you can trust him within a mile of you!" He opened the passenger door of the car. "Come on, we need to get you safely home."

"But... Ryuga looked after me..."

"That doesn't matter. You could have been very seriously hurt – remember what happened to Kyouya, Hikaru and Tsubasa? It could have been far worse. Now get in."

Yuu obeyed slowly, knowing that Ryo was worried more than angry – he hoped so, anyway. Automatically, he glanced back up at the house to see that Sora had yet to close the door, apparently making sure that Yuu was safe before turning back. Yuu felt a flare of thanks for the brown-and-gold haired blader who was so much nicer than the rest of his housemates. Sora reminded him of Kenta, in a way, and he hoped that he would get out of there sometime – it would be awesome to battle him someday.

Ryo dropped into the driver's seat and snapped his own seatbelt on very quickly. The car's old engine revved, and Yuu waved to Sora, who grinned back.

Then Yuu's eyes were drawn past Sora's shoulder to where the barely-visible figure of Ryuga stood, still just outside the basement door. Maybe Ryuga would take Sora with him when he left to go training, though Yuu couldn't really imagine someone as nice and easy-going as Sora following the Dragon anywhere, or Ryuga allowing it in the first place. Yuu shivered. Maybe Ryo was right. Maybe he _had_ put himself in awful danger just because he wanted to believe that Ryuga wasn't as bad as people made him out to be... because Ryuga had been his friend.

Not, of course, that Ryuga had ever reciprocated that sentiment. Or that Yuu cared that he hadn't. It had just been one of those things that he knew was fundamentally _right_ when it happened.

"After everything Gingka did to stop him, you went straight back to him? I thought you wanted to be out of the Dark Nebula!" Ryo snapped, bringing Yuu's attention back to him.

"It was Doji who..."

"You can't blame Doji for everything, Yuu."

"And you can't just blame Ryuga!" Yuu had no idea why he was reacting like this, except that it was mostly Ryo's fault that he had been left behind at home that day instead of going to the theme park, and Yuu had really been starting to enjoy himself at the house of forgotten bladers. Refusing to look at Gingka's dad any more, Yuu turned back to see Sora giving one final wave. And Ryuga...

There was no way he could have heard Yuu's last statement, but there could be no mistake.

Ryuga _smiled_ at him.

It was unmistakable, even in the dim half-darkness of the hallway he was standing in. Not the cruel, smug smile that had been so characteristic of him in Battle Bladers. Not the evil grin he had sported when suggesting that he should introduce Yuu to the vampire downstairs. Not even the self-satisfied look he had worn the very first time that Yuu had met him.

No, this was a real, proper smile full of the same pride and nobility that Yuu had seen hidden under the surface in their one and only battle. It had been almost eclipsed by the creeping darkness of L-Drago, but Yuu had always had the ability to know if someone was a good blader, even a true blader, without battling them. He had known the first time he met Kenta and Benkei, and then again when he'd met Gingka, and then Tsubasa. And he'd known when he'd met Ryuga.

It was in their eyes, and it was Ryuga's eyes that had told the truth, filled with the fierce joy in battling to the edge of ability. The eyes of one who knew he was as one with blade and beast, and was master of all.

No matter that towards the end the red-eyed dragon had torn through. Yuu had seen the truth underneath, and had honoured Ryuga as a true blader with the best fight that he could possibly manage.

And now, at last, Ryuga was honouring him in return. And he did it with a smile.

* * *

><p><em>AN – again, the four in the cellar are from the original series of Beyblade, but they didn't seem to have a part important enough to mark this as cross-over, as all they're doing is providing a dramatic distraction whilst Ryo drives the car round, if a rather deadly one._


	5. Epilogue

**Chapter 5 - Epilogue**

Coming home was awkward to say the least. Yuu had, to date, sat through four lectures that all sounded pretty similar, one each from Ryo, Gingka, Tsubasa and Madoka. All of them had been along the lines of "how could you be so careless?" and only one of them – Gingka's, which was nice – had included the words "I know he was your friend".

Yuu actually felt quite bad about it, sitting on the blue sofa, swinging his legs over the edge of the seat. He knew he should have called earlier, as soon as he'd reached the house of the forgotten bladers. He probably should have just come home via the short-cut, too. And when he'd seen that the laundrette didn't have anyone at the desk, he should have left straight away instead of investigating. Not having managed to get any milk was pretty high on the list of "things Yuu felt bad about" too.

But what he refused to feel sorry for was following Ryuga.

"Did you say Sora was there?"

"Huh?" Yuu turned to see Kenta perched on the sofa next to him, his brown eyes wide and curious. "Yeah, Sora was there. He seemed to be okay."

"Oh. Good." Kenta looked at the floor. "It's just... well, you know you said they were called the forgotten bladers..."

"Yeah?"

"I just remembered that I told him we'd meet up again some time, and I totally forgot. And I asked Gingka and he said he hadn't really thought about Sora since they met in Busujima's town. Do... nah, I'm being silly."

"What?"

Kenta bit his lower lip. "Do you think that if we don't get onto the team for the world championships next year, they'll forget about us too? Gingka and the others? I... not to be mean, Yuu, but I really don't want to share a house with Ryuga and Reiji."

Yuu looked at him, shocked. "Of course we won't be forgotten!" he exclaimed. "But you're going to make the team anyway, Kenshi, so don't worry."

"Do you really think so, Yuu? I mean, I'm nowhere near as good as you or Gingka or Kyouya or Tsubasa... I don't know if I can make it all that way." Kenta refused to meet Yuu's eyes, more interested in staring at the carpet.

"You _are_ good!" Yuu insisted. "You always try your best, and that's what's important, isn't it? That you try your best and have fun?"

"I guess..."

"_I'll_ remember you," Yuu promised. "And I'll remember Ryuga and Sora and... and... whatever the other guys were called. And we'll _all_ go to the World Championships together." He paused and gave Kenta his best serious look. "But you're going to get on the team, Kenshi. It'll be stinky if you don't."

Kenta grinned. "Okay, Yuu. We'll both do our best, and we'll meet Gingka in the finals!"

"Yipee!"

"Yuu?" That was Ryo's voice, calling from the corridor. "Yuu? Sora's on the phone in my study. I told him that you were fine, but he wants to talk to you personally."

"Okay," Yuu sighed, getting to his feet and wandering into Ryo's study to the phone. It was nice for the other blader to call to check up on him, even though he'd already seen him get into the car safely. "Hey, Sora."

"Yuu, are you alright?" It was not Sora's voice on the other end. Yuu almost dropped the receiver in shock.

"Ryu..." Realising that Ryo was still just outside the door, he corrected himself. "I mean, Sora?"

"Heh. I know. But Gingka's dad would have slammed the phone down on me, and you know it. I blackmailed Sora into phoning for me, or I'd tell Reiji what he put in my laundry basket. Are you alright?"

"Ye... yeah, I'm fine. They weren't really mad at me, just worried. I'm home now, so it's all okay."

"Good. Next time take the normal route home. I won't always be doing the washing at eight at night when you feel like destroying someone's garden decorations."

"Yeah, I know, but... Hang on! Wait!" Yuu yelped, knowing that the Dragon was about to put the phone down.

"What?"

"Will I see you again?" he blurted out. "Before you go training, I mean?"

A soft laugh was his answer. "Who knows? But I'll never be far away, I can promise that. Goodbye, Yuu. Keep an eye on Tsubasa for me, won't you?"

And the phone on the other end clicked down.

Yuu bit his lip. "Goodbye, Ryuga," he whispered into the dead receiver.

.

Yuu curled up in his bed, happy to finally be somewhere that he knew was safe. On the other side of the room, Kenta and Hyoma were already asleep in their beds, and Yuu was almost ready to surrender to dreams himself. It had been such an eventful day, but he was already forgetting bits of it because he was so tired. What had Ian been making? Why was Ryuga so cross with Reiji? What was the number of their house? Had he really met a real, live vampire? Where... His eyelids dropped further towards sleep and he tightened his hand around Libra. What was that thing about a gnome needing four pints of milk?

But even in his exhaustion, one thing stuck in his mind. The look in Ryuga's golden eyes as he'd glared down the vampire, white-and-red hair blazing, voice proud and haughty.

"_He'd whip all four of you any day in the bey-dish."_

Yuu smiled to himself. He didn't care if he never grew tall enough to go on the Crystal Mountain ride. Ryuga thought he was good, and that was enough for him.

Because if Ryuga thought he was good, maybe one day... one day he'd get to battle him again. And that was better than a thousand Crystal Mountains.

* * *

><p><em>AN – And so we reach the end..._

_This entire story was born from walking into the laundry room and noticing that the lights were off when they're normally on. Odd things are my inspiration, it seems..._

_If anyone thinks I've made Yuu too small, I've actually made him too _tall_. It's clear from his tag-team battles with Tsubasa that he doesn't even come up to Tsubasa's elbow, even counting his hair. So even if Tsubasa was six foot tall, which he's not as he's still normal teenager size compared to Ryo Hagane, Yuu would barely be scraping four feet. And Ryuga is _even taller than Tsubasa_._

_Eek. Poor Yuu._

_Yeah, in Britain the smallest you can be to ride on most of the rides at Thorpe Park, which I used as a reference point, is 120 cm (140cm for the biggest ones) or about four feet._

_Poor, poor Yuu. Maybe Tsubasa will take him next weekend, because sometimes they let you on if you're accompanied, even if you're technically too small..._

_Have a very happy Easter, as I won't be back before then. _

_JuniperGentle  
><em>


End file.
